U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,751 granted to Vanden Wymelenberg, et al., Jan. 4, 2005, discloses an electrical connector assembly that has a plurality of insulated electric cables that are attached to a plurality of terminals. Each electric cable is ultrasonically welded to a weld pad of one terminal and clamped by an insulation crimp barrel of the terminal. The terminals and end portions of the electric cables are seated in slots of a terminal carrier to isolate the terminals from each other. The terminals are retained in the terminal slots by flexible lock arms of the terminal carrier. The terminal carrier is disposed in a connector housing that has an open side for sliding the carrier laterally into the connector housing. The open side of the connector housing is closed by a slide.
While the electrical connector assembly disclosed in the Vanden Wymelenberg '751 patent is useful for its intended purpose, there is a practical limit to miniaturization, particularly with respect to height and width reduction of the electrical connector assembly.